According to Koopman's theorem the ionization energy is equal to the absolute value of the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital.
We can approximate the ionization energy of the nitrogen molecule using Koopman's theorem. First, we define N2 at its equilibrium bond length from the Hartree-Fock method in the cc-pVDZ basis set
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| (2.3.3.1) |
The energies of the Hartree-Fock molecular orbitals (MOs) can be computed with the MOEnergies command using the Hartree-Fock method
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The occupations of the Hartree-Fock MOs can similarly be computed with the MOOccupations command
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Finally, the point-group symmetries of the Hartree-Fock MOs can be computed with the MOSymmetries command
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We can collect all of this information in a Maple list of lists
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| (2.3.3.2) |
We observe that the 7th MO is the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO), and hence, the ionization energy from Koopman's theorem is 0.617 hartrees. With Maple we can easily convert the result to another unit such as electron volts (eV). Note that the resulting energy is slightly greater than the ionization energy of the hydrogen atom (13.6 eV).
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| (2.3.3.3) |
The electron density of the HOMO can be visualized with the DensityPlot3D command. This command requires the output from the HartreeFock command.
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After running the Hartree-Fock command, we run the DensityPlot3D command with the molecule's geometry, the output table from the Hartree-Fock calculation, the orbital index of the MO to be visualized, and the basis and symmetry keywords of the Hartree-Fock calculation. Click on the plot to rotate the molecule into different orientations.
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(k) Use the computed MO energies to construct an MO diagram for the N2 molecule.
(l) What is the term symbol of the ionized state predicted by Koopman's theorem from the Hartree-Fock method?
(m) Experimentally, the ionized nitrogen molecule N2+ is in a doublet, sigma state with a term symbol 2S. Does your result in (l) agree with experiment?
(n) Explain any differences in (m) by comparing your MO diagram with the MO diagram of the N2 molecule from any standard textbook.